Campaign Priorities Spotlight
Undergraduate Housing

Community. Identity. Tradition. The character of Caltech's house system has shaped students' undergraduate experience for decades. "Undergrads choose their house with care, assessing the compatibility of the house's 'personality' with their own, bearing in mind that this will become their Caltech family," says Margo Marshak, Caltech's vice president for student affairs. "A student's house affiliation often becomes one of his or her most enduring connections to Caltech."

Flanking the Olive Walk are Caltech's seven undergraduate residential houses: Blacker, Dabney, Fleming, and Ricketts to the south and Lloyd, Page, and Ruddock to the north. Recasting the Mediterranean theme found in the Athenaeum, architect Gordon B. Kaufmann designed the residences now known as the South Houses in 1931. Following the example of similar residence spaces at Oxford University, the South Houses were built around courtyards, hallways, and alleys. This design created much more than mere dormitory space. Students interact with each other within small communities, building strong camaraderie by eating, studying, and living together in close quarters. When the South Houses could no longer accommodate the growing undergraduate population, the North Houses were added in 1960.

The California style of architecture found in the South Houses is a distinguishing element of the facility. However, over 75 years of constant use has taken its toll on the houses. Moreover, the residences were built in 1931, the same year Ford retired its Model A-a time well before the advent of air conditioning, much less computers. Even the North Houses are more than 40 years old, and both complexes are in dire need of rehabilitation to accommodate the needs of Caltech students in the 21st century.

In 2001, President Baltimore assembled a task force, composed of students, alumni, current and former administrators, and faculty members, to assess the residential needs of students. Additionally, the ISES Corporation conducted a structural inspection and analyses of the facilities. Recommendations resulting from these evaluations called for a comprehensive renovation of the historic South Houses.

Responding to these recommendations, the Caltech Board of Trustees identified renovation of the undergraduate houses as a top priority of the Institute's master campus improvement plan. This undertaking will be completed in two phases. Renovation of the South Houses has already been slated to begin next summer, with occupancy scheduled for fall 2006. Phase two, replacement or renovation of the North Houses, is recommended to follow the completion of the South Houses' restoration upon approval by the Institute's Board of Trustees.

As part of the renovation of the South Houses, electrical and plumbing systems will be modernized, ports for computer access will be incorporated, and structures to accommodate students with special needs will be built. Of course, all of the improvements will be made while maintaining the original elegance of Gordon Kaufmann's design. Architect Norman Pfeiffer, of Pfeiffer Partners, Inc., has assembled a team of experts in preserving historic structures.

The improved housing facilities will provide enhanced dining services, more shared space, and more private study areas. A plaza will connect both housing complexes across the Olive Walk, providing an informal gathering place for student functions and much needed outdoor dining space. Safe terracing and Mediterranean landscaping will enhance the outdoor space and unify the opposing housing quadrangles. Further, all of the renovation, new construction, and landscaping will complement plans for the proposed Campus Center, creating an interconnected system of plazas, dining facilities, and gathering places for the student community.

Renovation and construction plans also will provide space for a faculty residence within the undergraduate housing complex. Having a faculty member in such close proximity will provide students the added benefit of an accessible mentor and intellectual example. Best of all, having a faculty member on the premises will truly fulfill Gordon Kaufmann's vision of a seamless transition from classroom to courtyard.

By Cynthia Gilbert